Practice Profile: 85% Conversion with Custom

Patients Aren't Buying Braces. They're Buying Confidence.

Lessons from a KLOwen Study Club with Prairie View Orthodontics

An 85% conversion rate. That's the number that turns heads when the Treatment Coordinators (TCs) from Prairie View Orthodontics talk about their switch to Custom Braces.

Dr. Lippincott and his treatment coordinators, Vicki and Tanya, recently shared exactly how they got there. Four locations. Two doctors. About 700 KLOwen starts a year. A team that fought the change at first and now can't imagine going back.

The technical side of Custom Braces gets a lot of airtime. What stood out in this session was everything else. How the team talks to patients. How they handle moments that used to feel like objections. How they turned a scary change into their new normal.

Here are the parts any practice can use this week.

1. Patients aren't buying braces. They're buying confidence and convenience.

"Nobody wakes up excited to spend thousands of dollars on braces, brackets, and wires. What they're really buying is confidence."

One of the TCs opened with this reframe, and it shaped everything that followed. Patients aren't comparing bracket systems. They're picturing graduation photos, weddings, and job interviews. They're deciding whether they trust your team before they ever decide on a treatment plan.

"Patients don't remember every detail we tell them, but they always remember how we made them feel."

How to use this now: Before your team explains any technology, have them ask two questions in every consult: what brought the patient in, and what bothers them most about their smile. Then just listen. Save the KLOwen explanation for after the patient feels heard, not before.

2. Explain "custom" without getting technical

Parents don't know what a custom bracket is, and jargon won't help. Vicki’s go-to explanation uses a simple visual:

"Old brackets were flat on the back. Your tooth is curved. You've got different grooves, different curves to your teeth. Now, with custom brackets, we're doing a digital scan. They fit more like a glove. Custom just for you and your teeth.”

And the analogy that reportedly changes the tone of the whole conversation:

"Think of it like buying a tailored suit instead of one off the rack. Both will work, but this one is designed specifically for you."

Script your team can use today:

1. Hold up a hand, fingers together, to show a flat surface. Say: "Old brackets were flat. Your teeth aren't. There's always a small gap."
2. Curve your hand to match. Say: "Your custom bracket is scanned and made to fit the exact shape of your tooth. No gap."
3. Land it with the comparison: "It's the difference between a suit off the rack and one that's tailored to you. Both work. One's built for you specifically."
4. Only then mention the practical payoff: fewer visits, more control for the doctor, often finish treatment faster.

3. Give your TCs the handoff, and mean it.

Dr. Lippincott's rule: keep the consult itself to about five minutes. Say hello, identify the problem, give a general sense of the plan, then hand it off.

"The doctor doesn’t need to tell them all the amazing things about KLOwen. That's why you have these amazing TCs in your office. But you, as a doctor, need to empower your TCs and build them up in front of the patients."

The TCs echoed how much that public vote of confidence matters:

"Having him say that builds confidence in me, and that reflects to my patients."

How to run the handoff:

1. Before leaving the room, tell the patient directly: "You're a perfect candidate for Custom Braces. I've mapped out your treatment plan and prescribed your braces. [TC name] will walk you through what happens next."
2. Leave before over-explaining the technology yourself. That is the TC's job.
3. Stay available if the TC gets a question they can't answer. Prairie View's line to patients: "If something comes up she can't answer, she'll call me right back in."
4. After the visit, hand the TC a short written summary of the treatment plan so they can prep insurance, scheduling, and next steps without waiting on you.

4. Turn the loss of same-day starts into a celebration

This was the most emotional part of the call. Prairie View built their whole reputation on same-day starts, and switching to custom brackets meant patients had to wait for their custom prescription to be printed and shipped to the practice.”

"I fought him tooth and nail. This is not going to work for our office. It's never going to work here."

The fix wasn't a better sales pitch. It was reframing the wait as something worth celebrating.

How to build a same-day-start replacement, step by step:

1. Give the patient something physical to take home that day: an electric toothbrush or water flosser, gift-basket style.
2. Walk them to a candy station and let them pick something they'll have to give up once braces go on, framed as a "last chance" treat.
3. Let them pick their bracket colors in advance, something to look forward to and tell friends about. (Pro Tip: You can put colors on custom brackets!)
4. Coach your team to say it out loud: "You get to go home and tell your friends and siblings you're getting custom braces made just for you."

"Switching to custom braces shifted our focus from getting patients into braces the same day to delivering a better overall patient experience. Replacing the pressure of fitting a bonding into an already busy schedule with a scheduled bonding appointment removed the stress from our clinical team and TCs. This gave us the opportunity to truly celebrate the patient. That shift was a game changer for our clinic."

5. Don't oversell. Read the room instead.

Both TCs pushed back gently on the idea that more information equals a better close.

"You certainly do not have to be a mother or have a family to be a TC, but having a lot of things you can relate to the patients is important... you just have to talk to them almost like you're hanging out, having a cup of coffee."

Dr. Lippincott backed this up from the clinical side:

"Orthodontists are extremely talented at overselling treatment. We want to talk about everything, no stone unturned. My goal is to be in and out of a consult in about five minutes."

How to coach against overselling:

1. Set a soft time limit on the doctor's portion of the consult. Five minutes is the number Prairie View uses.
2. Train TCs to build rapport first with small talk, hobbies, family, before pricing or technical details come up.
3. If a parent or patient hasn't asked a follow-up question, don't volunteer more technical depth. Let curiosity lead.

6. Hire for personality. Train for confidence, not perfection.

Asked what he'd tell himself if he were starting over, Dr. Lippincott didn't mention marketing or systems. He talked about people.

"At the end of the day, who you are as a person matters way more than if you can sell a case. We can teach that."

How to apply this to hiring and onboarding:

1. Interview for how a candidate relates to people first. Technical and sales skills can be trained.
2. When a team member struggles, treat it as a training gap before a performance problem.
3. Give new hires a clear, repeatable standard to return to, not a vague sense that they're falling short.

The takeaway

None of this required new technology or a bigger budget. It required a mindset shift: patients are buying trust and confidence, not a bracket. Build your consult, your handoff, and even your waiting period around that, and the conversion numbers tend to follow.

Smiles built smarter and practice success starts with a team that believes in what they are selling.

Have a success story worth sharing? We'd love to feature your practice next.

About KLOwen Orthodontics:

KLOwen Orthodontics is a custom digital technology company transforming orthodontic practices through our fully custom digital orthodontic solution that increases efficiency, improves quality and consistency of outcomes, and reduces stress in the orthodontic practice. Founded in 2019 by orthodontist Dr. Brandon Owen, KLOwen is leading innovation in orthodontic treatment with a full portfolio of custom fixed appliances proven to deliver an average of 7.1 fewer appointments per patient. Schedule a demo today by clicking here.